The Ice Bride by I Agree
Part I
The Ice Bride
By: I Agree
From Kirai’s Neverending Title Challenge on Dokuga
A.N. AU, set in the way past. Sesshoumaru is 17 in human years for a majority of this fic, he’s also going to be more emotional… he’s a teen; teens are hormonal. Also there are 4 parts to this fanfiction and each part is exactly 5,000 words. There would have been another part, but I thought 20,000 was a bit much as it was.
A big thank you to Kirai, both for the inspired challenge she’s created and for the beautiful title she gave me. I had an idea instantly and was very eager to explore it. I hope I didn’t disappoint!
I do not own Inuyasha. This is written not for profit, but for the sheer pleasure of it. The ‘poem’ before each part is lyrics from ‘Love You to Death’ by Kamelot, though I changed around the order a bit (Not a Songfic I promise!). I don’t own that either.
---IB---
~*Part I*~
When they met she was fifteen
Like a black rose blooming wild
And she already knew she was gonna die
At 356, young Lord Sesshoumaru was barely mating age. Introduced to society a scant six years before, he’d not even taken to looking at the opposite sex in such a manner. No male youkai of his status was expected to begin choosing a mate until they were at least 450, when their choices could be made not only on instinct, but on logic too. Even then, most didn’t mate until their eight hundredth year. He had years before he had to worry about a female.
Or so he thought.
The young youkai stared at his sire, waiting for the fearsome lord to take back the words or even to continue on to say something else entirely. He was completely willing to believe he’d hallucinated, willing to say he’d misinterpreted the elder youkai’s words. There was no way his father just told him he was to mate within the next two months and to a female who he’d chosen. He knew the Inu no Taishou was unorthodox, but it just wasn’t done.
But the General didn’t retract his order, merely stared at his first son in return, waiting for his reaction.
Slowly Sesshoumaru shook his head, “I do not understand.”
“You aren’t stupid, nor are you deaf,” returned Saitou, sitting back against the wall, a leg raised with an arm resting on his knee. “It is a political match with the North, and both parties have agreed.”
Sesshoumaru glared hotly, “I have not-“
“Nevertheless you will. The West and North have been at odds for far too long. This is an unprecedented act of benevolence on their part and you will not disappoint me by rejecting the offer outright.”
He grit his teeth, biting back the need to argue. His sire had made up his mind, there was no getting out of this. Not unless Sesshoumaru wanted to bear the brunt of his ire for the next few years.
Sensing his – reluctant – acceptance, the Inu no Taishou continued, “The female and her parents should be at the West’s gate within the next week. You have that amount of time to come to terms with your situation.”
“Yes father,” he ground out.
“You will also be coached on proper decorum for the mating ceremonies in addition to your regular training. I’ll not have you embarrassing the Western House merely because you are young.”
“Yes father,” repeated Sesshoumaru.
“Your mother has requested you will not completely be forced into this. You will have a month to court the girl, at the end of which both you and the girl will be given the option whether or not to mate.”
Internally he thanked his mother, relieved that at least she was looking out for him. “Yes father.”
Saitou stared him down for a moment more before his eyes softened, “I would not do this to you if I thought you would not benefit from the experience. It is unconventional that I have asked you so early to take a mate, and one not of your choice, but I feel that in the end, all will be well.” A small smile tugged at the Taishou’s stern mouth, “I hear she is of ice, that should ease some insecurities of yours.”
Slightly shocked, Sesshoumaru could only stare at his father. It was rare that the Taishou would try to reassure him. Only in his younger years did his sire cater to his fears and discomforts and those times had been few and far in between. That he was trying now, Sesshoumaru could only call it a miracle.
Still unable to speak, the young lord merely nodded and cast his eyes downward. He couldn’t challenge his fathers decision anyway, he would just have to accept the elders judgment and pray everything would turn out as well as his father claimed.
~*~
Two weeks rolled by almost frighteningly fast and though it was dotted with extra lessons, Sesshoumaru seemed to have too much time to mourn his predicament. Every moment he had to himself was devoted to wondering who this female was or how they would react to each other, and why this girl and why him? His mind seemed to run never-ending circles around his mind, providing answers that would only incite more questions. By the third day, he had to force himself not to think of his upcoming mating to an unknown female.
A tug on his sleeve made Sesshoumaru jolt out of his reverie, and he looked down to see his young half-brother gazing up at him, a worried expression on his face. “Shmoru okay?”
Sesshoumaru blinked, and he looked down to see the ball he’d been tossing back and forth to his two year old brother still his hands. He handed the ball back to the little hanyou, but he still looked up at him anxiously. “Shmoru okay?”
“I am unsure,” he admitted, sitting on the ground to be at eyelevel with his brother. As he expected, Inuyasha crawled into his lap and cuddled close like the pup he was, trying to offer what little comfort he could. Sesshoumaru accepted, resting his chin on his little brothers silver head as he reached up to gently scratch his puppy ears. The little pup rumbled contently, easing Sesshoumaru’s anxieties for the first time in ages. He knew it wouldn’t last, but for now he allowed his little brothers innocent presence calm him.
“Inuyasha is a perceptive one, isn’t he?”
Sesshoumaru jolted in surprise as the Inu no Taishou’s second mate walked in, closing the door behind herself. The human princess Izayoi smiled softly at her step-son as she waddled gracefully to the two boys, a hand on her very pregnant stomach. Concerned, Sesshoumaru stood, setting his younger half-brother down so he could assist the human woman. “You should not be up and about, Izayoi-san.”
The woman smiled, “I am well enough, Sesshoumaru-san, the babe is in no danger today. Thank you for your concern.”
He frowned, noting the dark circles under her eye as he led her to a fluffy cushion. She’d not handled pregnancy with Inuyasha well, and the second pup she’d tried to bear ended up a miscarriage, almost taking her with it. Both Saitou and Kotone, Sesshoumaru’s birth mother, tried to convince her one was enough, but Izayoi, it seemed, was determined to have a daughter.
When she settled, Inuyasha cuddled into her side with an ear pressed against her stomach, she gently tugged Sesshoumaru down to sit beside her. Once he was where she wanted him, she reached out and began to finger comb his silvery silk hair. “Your father may not have noticed Sesshoumaru-san, however your mother and I have.”
“And she asked to you talk to me.”
“You know she isn’t good with expressing, but she is concerned. And so am I.” She began straightening out his clothes as much as she could. Nesting his father had explained during her pregnancy with Inuyasha when she’d set about cleaning the entire citadel. “You’ve been walking about like the living dead, fulfilling your usual duties without your usual passion. It is very painful to watch.”
He grimaced, “I am being made to mate a complete stranger, a princess of a lesser daimyo, and I’m only 356 years old.”
Izayoi smiled, “You are young, yes, and the situation your father put you in is an unusual one, but if I’ve learned anything about you in the three years I have been here it is you thrive on adversity.” Gently she tugged on a strand of his hair, “Don’t think of this as something you are being forced into. You and the girl have a choice in the end after all. Instead, see it as another challenge from your father, see that he’s merely testing you to see if you are ready to take his place.”
“It is an unfair and stupid test.” But he had already calmed down, Izayoi’s strange gift to see everything in a better light easing many of his insecurities. He could see this as a challenge. His father gave him at least three a month. This one would just be his most difficult to date, that was all.
Yet…
“How could he ask such a thing from me? There are other ways to strengthen the relations between the two houses, why did he feel he needed to sacrifice his son’s freedom?”
Izayoi pursed her lips for a moment, as if she didn’t want to speak, but eventually she sighed, detangling her fingers from his hair to rub her stomach. “I do not claim to understand your fathers reasoning, Sesshoumaru, nor can I say I completely understand the inuyoukai mind, however, do you truly think he would have asked you to do this if he did not think you would be able to?”
Sesshoumaru scowled and took a breath to answer, but the hime gave him no time.
“Saitou is proud of you, and he believes this to be the correct path. If nothing else, it should show you how much faith he has in you.”
The young youkai stared at his step-mother, seeing how badly she wanted him to understand her thoughts. She did have a point. His sire would never have asked anything of him if he thought his son might make a mess of it all, and Saitou was known to crow on and on about his children. But she wasn’t an inuyoukai. She couldn’t fully understand the gravity of a ‘mating’ and how wrong it was for someone to be forced into it. Humans very rarely felt what such a bonding could do, merely picking and choosing their life partners out of necessity. Izayoi herself had even been a gift to the Dog General. How could she understand?
He gave a fleeting, tentative smile to his step-mother, “Thank you, Izayoi-san.”
She smiled sweetly in return, “Anything for our children.”
~*~
When his father told him the girl was ‘of ice’ he’d naturally assumed he’d meant in personality. After three centuries and over five decades being referred to as such, he’d only ever associated the word with an aloof personality when speaking of a person. Why else would one be called ‘icy?’
So naturally, looking upon the wide eyed, pale human princess who gazed around the foyer in obvious curiosity and awe, Sesshoumaru was confused and angry. Nothing about this girl could be called ‘icy,’ not with the open expressions he’d seen on her face the moment he’d walked in to greet the guests of the Northern Mountains. Within an instant he’d known he should have gotten all the information from his wily father and not have settled with just one measly, obviously false, description of the girl.
But he reigned in his desire to abandon them in the foyer to seek out his father and demand explanations. No matter how angry or bemused he was, he would not blemish the good name of the Western House. His father and both mothers would be very disappointed in him if he even thought of such rudeness.
Back straight, he stepped forward and nodded his head in greeting. “Please forgive my father’s absence, his mate had need of him. I am his first born son, Sesshoumaru.”
The small family bowed at the waist respectfully, though he noticed the girl seemed a bit more than reluctant to. He made note of it, but didn’t voice his observation as they straightened. It was something harmless, especially compared to the strong holy aura radiating from her entire being.
“We are honored to be accepted into your home, Sesshoumaru-sama,” said the young male, probably only in his twelfth year. Sesshoumaru could smell the reek of nervousness rolling off him and silently applauded his ability to speak so coherently. “I am here to represent my late father.”
“That is acceptable,” conceded Sesshoumaru, “however as you are underage, it is permissible for your mother to be representative of your family.”
Surprise crossed the boys face, and he looked back to his mother, who had flushed brightly. The woman stepped forward, her scent less nervous. “I am Higurashi Shinju, wife of the late Lord Higurashi Keiji. This is my son Souta and daughter Kagome.”
“You are welcome into our home.” Saitou’s sudden booming voice made the human’s jump, though strangely, Kagome’s scent did not exude the same fear as her family.
The Inu no Taishou strolled in slower than he usually would, Izayoi on one arm and Kotone on his other, the visual clash of the two females just as startling as Saitou liked. Wordlessly he guided them to their seats beside his throne, both inu youkai helping the expectant human to sit. Once she was comfortable, with Kotone cuddled close and a protective hand on her stomach, Saitou turned to greet his guests. “I had expected quite the entourage; the wolves of the North are never loath to show off their wealth and numbers.”
Having recovered, Shinju nodded, “Lord Jori was prepared to send more, however his son rejected the idea.”
Saitou gave an amused, rumbling chuckle. “Yes, I heard Prince Kouga held a torch for this girl.” He turned to the one in question, “Yet you volunteered when Jori considered a mating between the two houses.”
The pale girl, bowed her head in affirmation and respect, “It seemed best for all parties involved, milord.”
The sudden solemn atmosphere and the sadness obstructing his nose surprised Sesshoumaru, and he frowned thoughtfully at the young woman his father wanted him to court. What terrible thing would make a human willingly offer to mate with a youkai strange to her? He bit his tongue though, knowing he would later get the answers to his questions. Even if he had to get his mother to corner his sire.
“Hn,” said Saitou, gazing at the girl for a moment longer before he looked to the older woman, “You have had a long journey, so, should you be of the same mind, I feel business should be saved for the morrow.”
Shinju bowed, “My children and I would be very glad to have the opportunity to rest.”
The inu beckoned, and a maid appeared from the shadows, “She will bring you to your rooms, and should you still feel the need to rest your suppers can be brought to your rooms.”
The small family bowed to them, Kagome again showing the same resistance as she did, and followed the meek maid out of the room. Sesshoumaru just barely restrained himself, waiting tensely as he waited for them to be out of human earshot. He counted back from thirty, and once he reached zero, his eyes opened on a glare to seek out his father. The Taishou was still in his spot, watching him and waiting patiently for his reaction.
“You did not tell me she was human,” said Sesshoumaru, his voice a low, rumbling growl.
“I know what I have and have not told you.”
His fists clenched, and he could feel his claws biting into his flesh, “Why?”
Saitou glanced to his mates, “Because in this situation, it may not matter.”
“Does not matter?” hissed Sesshoumaru, “Of course it matters! You would have my first born be hanyou?”
“I does not matter, my son,” Saitou said firmly, “for the girl does not have much longer on this earth.”
~*~
That the girl was apparently dying didn’t sway his mind all that much. She was still human, and attaching himself to her by way of a mating seemed ludicrous to him. Youkai blood was notorious for its healing qualities, and a joining would elongate the mortal life to match the immortal mate. If Kagome was seeking that for herself, she was sorely mistaken. Sesshoumaru refused to be exploited.
No matter what he said however, his father would not listen. ‘Get all the facts, Sesshoumaru,’ he’d commanded, ‘and obtain them firsthand from the girl.’
He’d had to wait, of course. The Higurashi family hadn’t been expected to present themselves until the following day, and he knew it would be improper for him to ask a supposedly sickly woman to overexert herself. If she really was dying, then he didn’t want to do her any harm. He only wanted the answers his father refused to give him.
Sesshoumaru patiently awaited the princesses presence, slowly pacing the perimeter of the library. He’d waited until her mother had audience with his father and his mates, knowing it would only be polite to ‘entertain’ the woman-child and her little brother. It was what the Taishou wanted anyway, for him to have some time to ‘get to know’ her, to see if he could stand her enough to allow a mating.
He looked up when the shoji slid open, revealing the ones he’d been waiting for. He noted she was still pale, as though a night of rest had not helped her at all. Discreetly he sniffed the air, searching for any signs of illness. With some smugness, he found none.
The princess bowed, though much more shallow than the previous day. The boy more than made up for her lack of respect, for he bowed deeply and would not look up at him.
“You requested our presence, milord?”
Sesshoumaru nodded as he approached them, “Indeed. I thought since our parents have seen fit to exclude us from their initial meeting we would have one ourselves.”
Slowly, warily, she nodded, “And what of Souta?”
“He is the only male of your household is he not?”
“Yes, milord.”
He cast his gaze to the boy in question, who paled, “Then you shall also have a say.”
The boy, Souta, nodded his head jerkily, his gaze still on the ground. Unconcerned, Sesshoumaru turned back to the girl who was studying him curiously, almost as if she hadn’t expected such niceties from him. Eventually she nodded, her eyes cast only briefly to the ground; another blatant show of rebellion against her lesser station. Sesshoumaru gritted his teeth, but, for now, bore it. There was no need to rip off her head now if this sickness of hers was going to do the work for him.
“You asked to be chosen for the union.” He stated bluntly instead, getting to the heart of the matter.
She nodded, “As I told Taishou-sama, it seemed to suit all involved.”
“How have you come to this conclusion?”
Kagome frowned, confusion lacing her scent. “Didn’t… didn’t the Taishou explain the situation to you?”
He fought back a grimace, unwilling to admit he was the only one uninformed about the ‘benefits’ of their union. But he had to; she would be the best source to get his questions answered.
“The only thing my sire chose to tell this Sesshoumaru before our meeting was the mating would unite the two lands, though feebly at best, you are the daughter of a deceased daimyo, and I would not be the one who refused the mating at the end of the courting month should I want to live to see my 357th year.”
She looked almost horrified as she glanced to her equally nervous brother. Before he could demand she explain, she gestured to a circle of cushions. “Perhaps we should sit.”
Annoyance ran through him, but he nodded and politely guided her to sit. Her younger brother took the seat to her left without a word, playing with his fingers nervously. Once he was seated regally before them, he nodded to the pale young woman.
She took in a shaking breath. “About three years ago, I was found to be a priestess. My father was still alive then and though he knew it to be unusual he had an elderly miko, someone he trusted, train me every now and again. I didn’t take the lessons seriously, as a princess I wouldn’t be allowed to take the roll of village miko anyway, so what was the point? I paid even less attention when my father died a year later.”
Beside her, Souta twitched, but Sesshoumaru didn’t take any notice.
“About nine months ago, Kaede, my teacher in the art of holy energy, passed away. Mother, wanting to continue my training, began to seek out a tutor who would be able to challenge me further, who could possibly incite more of an interest in my gifts. Tsubaki-san came to us almost immediately.”
“Tsubaki the bitch,” growled Souta, surprising Sesshoumaru with the sudden display of animosity. So it seemed he was capable of more than fear.
“Souta,” hissed Kagome, “it is over and done with.”
The boy glared at her, but said nothing else. With one more glare to the younger sibling, Kagome turned back to the inu prince, “I’ll not bore you with how much of a taskmaster she was, or how cruel she could be. It’s enough to say we found too late she was a dark priestess.”
That sparked his interest. A dark priestess was rare, that one willingly came out into the open to ‘teach’ was unheard of. “What did she want of you?”
Kagome shrugged, “Probably to steal my powers, her motive was never too clear. All I know for sure is that I began to annoy her with my flippancy, and eventually she’d had enough.” She paused, her lower lip shaking a bit as she took a deep, fortifying breath. “One night I woke up to find her standing over me, muttering. I couldn’t move, couldn’t scream, I couldn’t do anything but watch her cast the curse that’s killing me.”
His lips were pressed into a thin, grim line, “And this is the reason you have deemed it necessary to mate? Do you believe youkai blood will remove the curse?”
She shook her head, “I paid enough attention to Kaede to know blood from a demon would only slow the process of a curse placed by a strong priestess.”
“And your own powers? Can you not overwhelm her energy?” It was asked out of pure curiosity.
“I am not trained enough, and it would take many more months than I have to learn how to do so.”
“Should you not be able to reverse it?”
“I did not hear her words milord,” said she softly, sadly shaking her head. “I don’t know the curse. All I know is that when it was complete, she laughed and told me my death would be an everlasting winter. Ever since then, my body has become colder and colder.”
~*~
“If I mate her, nothing will change.”
Saitou looked up from the scroll he was reading, an eyebrow raised, “What makes you think so?”
The younger inu stepped forward, kneeling on the cushion before his fathers low desk. “It is a curse that ails her, a mating would not cure it, nor would the exchanging of blood.”
“She knows this,” Saitou said blandly, returning to his reading.
Sesshoumaru reigned in his annoyance, “That the North sent an ailing woman who is assured to die to mate into the West is an insult.”
“Perhaps in your young eyes it is. Have you asked to court her yet?”
He ignored the question. “What’s more, when she dies the tentative bond the two lands with have forged will be severed. All your planning will have been for naught.”
Saitou stared at him from over the scroll for a moment, his expression unreadable. Before too long, the Taishou put the paper down on his desk and took a deep breath. “You have not gotten all the information then.”
“I’ve enough.”
The elder youkai waved a dismissive hand, “Obviously not if you still have this attitude about the mating. I would have thought you would see the benefit right off, but obviously you’re more pigheaded than I gave you credit for.”
“There is no-“
“Let me fill in the finer details since you did not see fit to question the girl thoroughly enough,” said Saitou as though his son hadn’t spoken. “Though her own powers are hindering the curse, and, if the mating does not fall through, your blood will do the same, the girl will still die within a few months. Mere months will not be enough time for a babe to grow within her womb, but the addition will give more time for her family to accept her impending death. A benefit for the West and a benefit for the North.”
Sesshoumaru frowned. It was true, but if that was the reason for sending the girl, then it was almost heartless and cruel of his father.
“Now, you have heard my say the son of Jori held a torch for this girl. Do you not think his blood, should they have mated, would do the same yours?”
The prince blanched internally. No he had not thought of that… so why?
“I also said it was she who volunteered to the mating. Can you think why?”
Slowly he shook his head, completely bemused. Why, when she had so very little time left to live, and with a youkai prince willing to mate her, would she volunteer to go to a foreign land and bind herself to a complete stranger just for the greater good of two peoples? Any other would try to make their last days as easy and comfortable as they could.
His father took up his reading again. “Talk to her again, my son. This time, ask the more important questions.”
~*~
He found her in the gardens, trailing a finger over a flower he didn’t know the name of. She made a lovely picture, for a human, surrounded by a variety of colors, her pale skin and unruly black hair a direct contrast of it all. Her scent was calm and at peace, so different from the churning hurt and fear she’d exuded when she’d told him her story that he was loath to disturb her. He wanted to wait until a later time to ask her, yet time was something she had precious little of. So he stepped forward, purposefully, but gently, expanding his youki so she would sense him.
Kagome looked up with a smile, as if she had known he was there all along. “Good evening, Sesshoumaru-sama. Have you come to look at the flowers too?”
He was brought up short a bit, surprised at how nicely his name rolled off her tongue. He shook it off quickly, unwilling to let such a thing hinder him. “This Sesshoumaru came with one more question.”
She nodded respectfully, “I will answer to the best of my ability.”
With his eyes locked onto her blue ones, ready to detect any sign of falsehoods, he only spoke one word: “Why?”
“W-why?” echoed she, obviously taken aback.
“Why would you ask to be sent mile from your home to mate with a perfect stranger when you are dying?”
“Oh.” It was said on a sigh, and her blue eyes broke away from his to look down at the flowering bush again. He waited patiently, and was rewarded minutes later when she looked back up and shrugged gracelessly. “I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it I guess. The whole situation works itself out.”
“Merely because of the curse?”
She nodded almost emphatically, “Well think about it. I may be a noble of a lower station, but I’m still royal, so my marrying, or mating, you would make substantial ties with the North. That’s what both lands wanted.”
“And yet with your death-“
“Kouga wouldn’t allow my death, or my efforts to be in vain.” She said with a shake of her head, “I made this decision, and I know him well enough to know that he’ll honor it long after I’m gone.”
Sesshoumaru doubted it, yet held his tongue.
“Also, since I’m dying, I won’t have any children so your offspring, when you eventually have some, wouldn’t have any blood of the North and they wouldn’t be hanyou. Not to mention you’ll be free of me in the blink of an eye. I would have more time with my family, since your blood can slow the curse-“
“Why not use the wolf prince’s blood?”
She grimaced, “Because he thinks he loves me, and to use him like that, knowing it would only give me a little bit more time, is just cruel. You don’t care about me, so when I die, if we are bonded, then it wouldn’t affect you as much.” She plucked a flower from the bush and began twirling it between her fingers in agitation, taking a deep breath to gain her calm back.
When she looked up at him, he was surprised to see tears forming in her eyes. “I will admit, Sesshoumaru-sama, that I thought of these reasons only on the way here.”
He gently pulled the dizzily spinning flower from her fingers, “What was your original reason?”
She bowed her head and wiped at her eyes with her kimono sleeve, unable to meet his eye any longer. The fear and anguish finally caught up to her it seemed. “I j-just wanted to do something good with my life before I died. I wanted someone to remember I helped them.”
The admission surprised him, though he knew it shouldn’t. Most humans lived such fleeting lives that they seemed to have the need to make a mark on the world around them, with very few being an exception. All he met merely wanted to control what was around them, force the people to remember them by means of tyranny and propaganda. It was an effective method, but not the most admirable. This girl, this young human, did not want to go that path. Instead, she wanted to be a catalyst for a time of peace between two opposing lands.
And who was he to stop her?
“Then, Lady Higurashi Kagome,” he tucked the pink bit of flora behind her ear then guided her to look at him with two fingers beneath her chin, “will you consent to a courting from this Sesshoumaru?”
The girl gave a watery smile, a pretty flush finally appearing on her pastel face. “I would be honored.”
---IB---
A.N. Part I complete! Sorry if there's any badness, I didn't edit.
Please Regard Me Kindly,
I Agree